Third Wheel
by missfifi487
Summary: Eli misses Grace's play and Grace turns to someone else for the comfort she needs. Will Eli realize he's losing her to someone else, or will he continue to believe he's being a protective brother and not a jealous man vying for Grace's attention.


This story is going to pick up around the time Eli missed Grace's play after promising to be there and asking her to do it for him. Grace knows Eli didn't show up and wants nothing to do with him at this point; she looks to someone else to help her get through it. Eli isn't willing to sit back and watch though… Will he realize what he's lost or will he just be am over protective brother figure? Read and Reply!!!!! Oh and it's been years since I've seen any episodes so it things don't seem to go in order or I miss something that's why and I apologize. I don't own the characters this is just my take on what I would have liked to see! The third season where they find out about Australia doesn't happen and Grace has yet to have any inappropriate relations with Mr. Dimitri.

Chapter 1

"Gracie everyone's waiting for you downstairs. Mr. Dimitri wanted to talk to you about the play. Are you almost done changing?" Lily softly spoke through the closed door knowing Grace could hear every word. She knew something wasn't right, Grace's performance tonight had been better than anything she could have expected but part of her couldn't help feeling the emotions pushing her through weren't those of the characters but Grace's personal life. A life Lily hadn't realized existed. Now she couldn't figure out what happened to Grace that she had so much sadness inside her.

"Sorry Mom I'll be right there." Grace called out. She was completely changed and sitting on her bed with her head in he hands. How was she supposed to go pretend everything was ok? Eli disappointed her again, but this time it was her own fault, he always disappointed her, and she just kept letting him. She needed to grow a backbone and stop letting him have his way at her emotions. When she first walked onto stage she couldn't tear her eyes away from the empty seat Lily and Rick had saved him. She saw everyone except the one person she was supposed to be performing for. She should have known something spoken while intoxicated couldn't be guaranteed. He had been high, she had been high, she needed him last night and he had been there but today where she needed him the most, he wasn't.

She slowly stood up and walked towards the closed door. She heard Lily move away quickly; obviously she'd been waiting for her outside the door but now didn't want to be seen. Grace smoothed out her knee length skirt shed changed into and dried the lonely tears that had fallen. They would be the last ever shed for Eli Sammler. Why didn't he ever care about her like he did about the others? She would never be a Carla or Jennifer to him; she would be like Coop, another good completely platonic friend. Although he always got her hopes up for more she would have been ok with just being friends, except he couldn't even do that right. He didn't want to be her friend; he just wanted her around when he had no one else to lean on. She was a crutch that would not be standing there for him any longer.

She made sure no one would notice the tears and her eyes weren't too red then opened the door to walk downstairs. As she hit the bottom stair she plastered the best fake smile she could muster and walked into the kitchen. She immediately saw many cast mates and Mr. Dimitri was standing not too far off chatting with her mom who must have bee lined it for the kitchen. People congratulated her as she walked by, letting her know she'd done great and she thanked them genuinely happy she managed to still pull it off after finding that seat empty. She grabbed a soda and slowly made her way over to her mom and her teacher.

"Thanks Mom, this party is great everyone's having a good time."

"Yes, Lily, the part is wonderful we couldn't ask for a better cast party."

"Anything for my Gracie! I am going to go check on the snacks make sure everyone has what they need. It was great talking with you Mr. Dimitri, I'm so happy Grace has such an amazing mentor!" With that she walked away and left Grace blushing in Mr. Dimitri's presence. Her mother could have avoided saying that.

"Grace do you think we can talk? Somewhere private." Mr. Dimitri looked nervous which made Grace much more nervous. What did he need to say privately? She nodded her head and motioned for him to follow her out the kitchen door and into the front yard. No one was out there luckily most people in the house or out back so they could talk without being disturbed.

"Grace first off I just need to tell you that tonight, your performance, you made the whole crowd fall in love with you. I couldn't be more impressed with a student if I tried." Grace blushed thanking him, but inside couldn't help wondering if that's why Eli didn't show up. The gods refused to allow Eli to ever return her feelings so the one night she could have made him fall in love with her, he missed.

Neither of them realized they weren't quite as alone as they originally thought. Eli had gotten home a few minutes earlier and was standing inside the garage listening to their conversation, he'd quickly slipped inside after hearing them come out but when he heard her name he couldn't help but stay and listen. She would never forgive him for missing tonight but at least she had gone up there and gave it her all. He knew the second he had seen her on stage she belonged there, but she didn't know he saw, she didn't know he had been there but ran scared as soon as he saw Karen. He was a coward and didn't want to tell her he'd been fired yet again. His whole life was an endless list of lies and disappointments. He knew he shouldn't be eavesdropping but what harm could come, he recognized her drama teacher and they were just discussing the play, the one he missed, the one he would never forgive himself for missing, even if someway Grace managed to.

"Mr. Dimitri, I just did what you said, I felt the character and didn't just speak for her. I couldn't have done it without you. So thank you for making me a better actress." She knew it was a lie, it hadn't been him, it had been her feelings her Eli pushing her forward making her be the character and not just portraying. The sad truth was, it didn't matter and Mr. Dimitri believed in her, he deserved feeling good about himself, Eli didn't.

Eli couldn't help but listen as Grace said this with a slight flirtation in her voice. It may not have even been there but he couldn't help feeling angry about it. She was supposed to perform for him; it was supposed to be for him, not her teacher. If this Dimitri guy was so great why was she in his room crying last night? Did she forget what they talked about?

"Grace you give me too much credit, you're talented, sweet, caring, beautiful and finally you have learned to use your emotions in your work." Beautiful… Did he really just call her that? She knew it wasn't true, but it had felt nice hearing. She knew he probably wasn't supposed to say it and that made her feel even better about it.

Eli clutched his fists and stopped himself from intruding. She wasn't a little girl; it wasn't his job to protect her. This teacher was definitely crossing way too many lines though. He knew where this was going he was a male. You don't throw that many compliments someone's way unless you're trying to get her out of her clothes. Although it was all true, why hadn't he been the one to say it? He knew Grace wouldn't be crossing that teacher student line and he was sure she was currently blushing and thinking of an excuse to escape.

When he still didn't hear a response he needed to look. He knew he shouldn't in case they saw his head poking out of the garage door, but why was it so quiet? He hadn't heard footsteps. When he did look he realized why, Grace was currently wrapped up in her teachers arms. He watched for minutes but they didn't move, finally he couldn't handle it anymore and walked inside and straight into the garage apartment. He didn't need to see that, like he didn't feel bad enough, now she was being held by her teacher? Why did it matter to him though? She was just his step sister; Jessie dated all the time and he never cared. Of course she hadn't dated teachers, but Grace was different, she was already so mature, she never would be interested in the high school boys Jessie brought home, not lately however. A teacher was the perfect guy for Grace, he didn't seem that old, and she seemed comfortable in his arms. No matter how many times he tried to make sense out of his anger, he couldn't, he just knew from now on Grace and Mr. Cant keep his hands to himself would not be anywhere alone.

As soon as Eli had slipped away Grace pulled back from Mr. Dimitri

"Mr. Dimitri..."

"Augustn, Grace when we aren't in class I'd prefer if you called me Augustn, as long as you're okay with that." She couldn't help the blush that rose this time and luckily it was dark out so she hoped he didn't see it.

"I wouldn't mind that at all. We should get back inside before anyone comes out looking for us." She noticed he didn't seem pleased by her statement but placed his hand on her lower back guiding her back into the house. Grace said her goodbyes quickly and made a quick excuse of going to the bathroom. The truth is she needed to think, alone and have a couple minutes to digest what just happened. She knew there was something between them, but she didn't know yet if she wanted there to be. She realized the first place they'd look for her was her bedroom so she made her way back out to the garage. Eli hadn't showed up at the play most likely out with his newest girl, the one with the barrette if she had to guess. She knew his room would be open and empty.

As soon as she opened the door though she was met with the sight she would have killed for a few hours earlier. Eli standing in the middle of his room half way through removing his shirt, in just his boxers, pants already discarded in the corner, staring straight at her.

"I'm sorry I didn't think you'd be home, I just needed a quiet minute, I'm sorry." She rushed out her apology after feeling like she had been staring for hours and ran out of the room. Eli couldn't help but appreciate the blush he'd caused by being half dressed. He needed to talk to her though and this was as good a time as any.

"GRACE, wait!" She stopped before entering back through the kitchen at the sound of her name being called by him. She turned back around and stared waiting for whatever he had to say.

"Could we talk for a minute, I know you don't have long, everyone's here, I just wanted to explain what happened tonight." He seemed to be begging and she couldn't stand the sight, he reminded her why she was so upset with him, he missed her play.

"Don't worry about it, you were busy, no big deal, I didn't need you there after all." She walked away after that. Didn't allow him to spit the lies he had already thought up. She knew Eli and he would cover for himself, he probably only realized he missed it once he had come home and seen all the cars. She didn't want an explanation, from this point forward he owed her nothing and in return she would give nothing.

Eli fell backwards onto his bed, laying there staring at the ceiling in his boxers. She wasn't going to forgive him this time. He had done it, lost the one person who always stood by him, the one person he could tell anything to, the one person he didn't know if he was willing to live without. She had made that choice though and now he had to figure out if he should listen to her, what she said had hurt, she didn't need him. She needed Dimitri, but not him. That's the only thing he could think about as he lay there for hours deep into the night, long past the time he heard the last guests leaving the house. He had lost her, he could only hope Dimitri wouldn't be the one finding her if he hadn't already that is.


End file.
